Lot 18: WILLIAM DERBY (1786 - 1847) A PORTRAIT OF ARTHUR WILLIAM ACLAND HOOD

WILLIAM DERBY (1786 - 1847)
A PORTRAIT OF ARTHUR WILLIAM ACLAND HOOD
signed and dates l.r.: W Derby/May 1840, watercolour
42.5cm by 91cm; 48 3/4in by 35 3/4in
The sitter is Admiral Arthur William Acland Hood, 1st Baron Hood of Avalon (1824-1901). The grandson of Captain Alexander Hood (1758-98), Arthur Hood joined the Royal Navy in 1836 at the young age of 12. He gained significant experience and in November 1854 he was appointed as Commander of the brig HMS Acorn. In 1854-55, Arthur Hood took part in the Crimean War fighting with the Naval Brigade. By May 1856 he and his vessel were in China under Rear-Admiral Sir Michael Seymour (1802-1887), commander-in-chief of the East Indies and China Station. In June 1857 HMS Acorn contributed to the destruction of the fleet of Chinese junks in the Battle of Fatshan Creek and later in the attack on Canton. In 1885 he became First Sea Lord, but left the Admiralty when he reached the age of 65 in 1889. This particularly attractive watercolour by the English portraitist and miniature painter William Darby shows Hood in his early days as a young naval officer.